


Its a Mistake

by LunaticLee



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marriage, Open Marriage, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Needs a Hug, Poor Peter, Soulmates, They all need hugs, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:41:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaticLee/pseuds/LunaticLee
Summary: The government controls who ends up together. Through years of technological advancements, there was a machine that specialized in picking the best couples. It was Peter's 16th birthday and his letter was finally coming in. He was dying to know who he was to marry.Unfortunately for Tony, all those years ago, his letter informed him there was no suitable match for him. It was upsetting but moved on to focus on his hero work. Until a red envelope ended up in his box.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is made from an rp so thanks to my rp partner! I hope y'all enjoy.

The train home felt like it was taking an eternity instead of its usual thirty seven minutes or so. He’d tapped his foot to the sped up rhythm of various different pop songs at least eight times in the past twenty minutes, and checked his phone more than twice that amount. His hands felt particularly sweaty as well, clinging rather proudly to the metal bar of the subway train, and Peter had to carefully readjust his grip every couple of minutes as to make sure that later (when the train stopped at his destination) he wouldn’t actively rip his skin by accident trying to pry it off of the bar.

The metal felt cool against his sweaty and feverish hands, and, if he could come to this conclusion by the weird looks he’s receiving, his face must be as sweaty as his hands- or in the very least, very flushed, to the point where the man standing next to him and sharing the pole awkwardly went to place his hands above the pole where Peter hadn’t touched. Had it been any other day, the whiskey eyed brunette would’ve taken insult to that gesture, but today wasn’t like any other day.

Because earlier that morning, Peter Parker had officially received his destined letter, the one that he’d been eagerly waiting for since he was a child, the one that his Uncle Ben had more than once encouraged him to wait for. It was the letter that would tell him who he would spend the rest of his life with, a destined pair, a soulmate. Not that Peter truly believed that soulmates existed, but he did believe in the power of algorithms and technological advancement, which is why he trusted a machine to tell him who would be the most suitable person for him.

He actively regretted not actually opening the letter that very morning, but knowing that Aunt May had an early morning shift, and therefor probably wouldn’t be there for him to open the letter, he opted to call her instead and plan for her to take he evening off and be there for him when he came home to open the letter.

Today hadn’t even started off as a regular day either, it was his 16th birthday and he’d been prepared for Ned to sing (in a very off-key tone) happy birthday to him, have MJ call him her “Sweet 16 Year Old Boy” And maybe even expect Flash to hit him in the back of his head or throw verbal jabs at him throughout the day. Okay, maybe Flash did that every day, but at least he was riding high on the optimistic cloud of turning a year older to handle the other boy a lot better today. He’d walked downstairs to the entrance to his apartment complex, humming the rhythm of the Star Wars opening when it’d caught his attention.

Their mail box, usually empty unless it was nearing the end of the month when May’s payment bills came around, and perpetually stuck to the wall like a small locker just like the rest of the mail boxes in the building, was now wide open, and inside, a letter lay.

He’d been startled at first, thinking it had been some sort of mishap, and reluctantly approached the open mailbox, only relaxing once he felt no sign of the tingly sensation that came whenever he was in danger. He retrieved the letter, letting his eyes take in the sign of the official wax seal of the American Government, confused, Peter had turned the letter around, taking in the contents of writing in neat handwriting.

To: Peter Parker  
From: The American Department of Matched Pairings

Congratulations on your sweet 16th birthday, today, we honor you with the greatest gift of all: love.

His hands were trembling when he got to the end of his letter, shaking in utmost excitement as he bolted back upstairs to his apartment, once inside, he put the letter down on the neat countertop and pulled out his phone, still in visible shock from what he’d just received. Hesitantly, he brought it to his ear, and waited for the worried “Hello?” That came after several rings.

“M-May? I got my letter.”

Snapping back to the present, Peter bit his lip as he checked the time on his phone again, having more or less five more minutes of estimated travel left (on the train at least, he’d still have to hustle it home). He wondered if he’d have enough time for patrol tonight- and immediately after decided that he most definitely didn’t. So instead, he decided to text Happy (though he doubted the man read any of the flood of messages he sent) a:

Peter Parker:  
Hi Happy! Can’t go on patrol today :(  
I just got my letter and my aunt probably wants to celebrate that lol

Again, no reply, not even a single read, but Peter knew better than to actively expect the other man to respond, and he didn’t want to bother Mr. Stark on trivial things like these. He always assumed the man was busy doing things more important than Peter will ever be. Fighting with or alongside the avengers, defeating intergalactic beings, creating knew and exciting technology that would certainly revolutionize the world time and time again, so yeah, Peter felt more or less a little bit insignificant.

He assumed it was probably for the better that he’d gotten his letter then, because Peter Parker could barely look at Tony Stark in the eyes without stumbling over his words or becoming an overly jittery mess. He’d been crushing on the man since the first time the other had saved him on Stark Expo, and had meticulously accumulated a hard crush on the man ever since, and it definitely hadn’t helped when the man had acknowledged him as a real hero (well, maybe not quite) and now Peter could actually interact with him in person instead of awkwardly feeling his heart skip a beat whenever the man appeared on the tv.

There was no way he’d be matched with Mr. Stark, he’d always assumed the man had been matched to someone else, like Ms. Potts or War Machine or even Captain America (though that one was less likely, and only something Ned had dug yo from the bottom of his internet search results and hadn’t let him forget since then). But that small, love struck child inside of him yearned to find Tony’s name written there, wanted to see that even machines thought he’d make a good pair with the older man. But that was just a silly fantasy, and Peter couldn’t help but feel a little bit down as he waved goodbye to his last hope of being matched with Mr. Stark as the doors to the subway opened, and he awkwardly maneuvered his body to exit the train.

From the station to his small apartment it was a 10 minute walk, which if Peter had simply used his Spider-Man abilities he would’ve certainly gotten there in less than five. But no, there would be no Spider-Man business today, or that night for that matter, he’d been determined to give himself a breather that day to fully digest the contents of the letter.

So with that in mind, he reluctantly walked the 10 minutes to his apartment complex, nearly racing up the stairs as he opened the door to the apartment, knowing the door would be unlocked since May was already inside (the soft sound of salsa playing inside was a dead giveaway to his aunties whereabouts). Once he stepped inside, he kicked his sneakers off, walking into the living room that connected with the kitchen and seeing his aunt standing a few feet away from the letter, staring.

“Hi May, I’m home.” He forced a small smile onto his face, catching her attention, he felt giddy, but also terrified. “Ready to open it?”

May turned quickly with a large smile on her face, along with icing and flower smudged acrossed her cheeks but she had still mostly cleaned up the mess before Peter had gotten home.

"I made you a cake! And a big dinner to fill that stomach of yours! I doubt your future wife will want a twig," she said poking his side where his ribs would be.

"Or husband, I'll support whatever decision that letter has made. Its never been wrong before," she said hopefully, nearly ready to start telling the story of when Ben's letter came years late due to her not having been 16 yet. The poor guy thought he was never going to have a wife. It only made the love between them flourish even more when they got together.

"Do you want to open it now? Or... Eat first?" May said trying not to grab the letter from Peter and read it herself.

“Ouch. Talk about making me feel self conscious.” He quipped back at his aunt, a sly grin adorning his face, dimples showing slightly as a blush of embarrassment dusted his freckles covered cheeks. “I... really appreciate that, May.” He mumbled, not ever having expected his aunt to lash out at him for his romantic interests, but still having a fear in the back of his head. Regardless of gender, Peter was still exceptionally excited to find out whoever he’d been matched with.

It was like a present, if presents came with massive bouts of anxiety at least. “I think I want to open it now.” He said, staring down at the letter as he picked it up, slender rose dusted fingers inching towards the seal as he couldn’t bring himself to stop as he opened it,before derailing his attention as he practically shoved the letter into May’s hands.

“Oh god oh god- I can’t! May! What if it’s flash?! Y-You read it.” He regretted that, but somehow he felt that would calm himself down as he propped himself on the counter and placed his arms around his head, glancing up at his aunt expectantly.

"Peter, it wont be anyone you hate unless there is something more to it! Its never been wrong before, I assure you, its fine... But since you insist, I'll read it out loud," May said just wanting to hurry up and see the printed name. She almost seemed as excited as Peter himself. Her fingers slipped under the fold of the envelop painfully slow as she was even slightly nervous. Unfolding the paper she cleared her throat and began to read.

"Congratulations! Your 16th is a very important date,You maybe excited and ready to contact your spouse however there are a few things you need to know.... Blah blah rules and such... Here we are T-what? Um... Maybe They made a mistake," May said seeming unsure about the paper she held in her hands.

To say Peter was a ball of nerves was an understatement. With every word that came out of Aunt May’s mouth, his body reflexively inches closer to her, arms no longer protectively wrapped around his head, his fingers digging into the countertop as he stared at the woman who’d raised him in exasperated excitement.

“What?” He flinched once May had said they must’ve made a mistake. “But you said T! May! What T?!” He was getting impatient, and more or less desperate as he maneuvered himself to stand beside May, shakily taking the letter into his hands.

He narrowed his eyes as he read it, eyes frantically glossing over majority of the text before he gasped, his hands dropping the letter faster than he should’ve expected as he pressed his body flush against the counter in front of the kitchen island. “I...My matched pair is Tony Stark!?” He asked in disbelief, millions of childhood fantasies where he’d get to be Tony’s sweetheart and ride off into the sunset and be his husband forever flashed before his eyes, rushing to pick up the letter and re-reading it hastily before glancing at May, disbelief on his face “My...My matched pair is Mr.Stark! Oh my god! I can’t believed this!”

"There had to have been a mix up Peter, he's way to old for you and... It's just not possible," May bit her lip and paced back and forth. She knew there were never mistakes, it just didnt happen. There were no outs or waiting either. It was set in stone and it was going to happen whether she liked it or not.

"Maybe we should eat? And then you can contact the matching department and we can get this sorted out," she said seeming way too unsure of the situation to be happy about the news.

Peter desperately wanted to retort, wanted to say something back about how she had said they didn’t make mistakes no more than a minute ago. Instead, he took in his aunts worried and partially uneasy expression, deciding that this was one of the times he should simply shut up and let her take control of the situation.

“Okay.” He practically breathed out, biting his bottom lip as he still clutched the letter firmly with his hands. “Yeah I... Yeah, let’s eat, and then we can do that.” He mumbled quietly, his eyes ghosting over the letter once more. Strangely enough, there wasn’t a number to call in case a mistake was made.

May sighed as Peter didnt argue with her. She grabbed Peter a plate and handed it to the boy.

"Eat up, you wont get to have my cooking all the time once you get married..." May said ignoring the fact that it was Tony who he was to be married off to.

Maybe if she just put his age aside... He was a very handsome man, rich, smart... A player, heart breaker, constantly puting himself in danger. May had to sit down before she passed out.

Peter made a face at that, were these people cocky enough in their matchmaking to not even list a number in case there had been a mistake? His heart is still pounding at the mere thought of Tony Stark being his soulmate coming true, but now knowing that there might have been a mistake? He was petrified.

“Yeah well... not if that letter is a mistake.” He answered quietly, going to take his seat at the table, taking the plate as he sat down and began prodding at his food “Do you really think it’s a mistake?”

"Honestly... They never have made a mistake Peter, it's impossible... I just don't know how to feel about my baby being with a man so 'experienced,'" she decided to use instead of out right calling Tony old or a player. May began to eat slowly as she thought to herself.

"I guess more importantly, how do you feel about it?" She asked just wanting Peter to be happy.

If only May knew he sneaks out every day to do super hero work in a suit designed by the man that was just declared his matched pair. Would she then say Mr.Stark was too old for him? But then again... Tony is capable of achieving far grander things than he would ever do. He hunched his shoulders, awkwardly prodding at some chicken “I’m happy?” He admitted, blushing “He’s amazing May but I... what if he doesn’t want me? You said you feel he’s too “experienced” for me. What if he thinks that too? That I’m not good enough?”

"Either way he's gonna have to get over it, I dont think even Stark can change the match," May sighed as she finished her plate. She put it in the sink and sliced the cake, putting a candle in Peters slice to get it ready.

A frown danced across his face. All his life he imagined his match and him would love each other and they’d live happily ever after. He never once questioned if perhaps something would go wrong and one of them wouldn’t be happy, that possibility seemed to scare him more. Regardless, he stayed silent, and waited for May to bring the cake over

She lit the candle and set it in front of Peter.

"Make a wish!" She said cheerfully as she had to stay happy for Peter. She'd have to have a nice long discussion with Tony as soon as she got in contact with him.

Peter held his breath, he wished that Tony would love him back- he wished this wasn’t a mistake, and he wished he wouldn’t wake up and all of this would be gone. He blew out the candles, watching the light flicker and eventually die out as he flashed a grin in Aunt May’s direction, beaming “Wanna eat cake now?”

"Of course!" She said grabbing a slice and quickly devouring it. She didnt want to worry about anything yet, her only job at the moment was to celebrate Peters 16th.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out

Despite the initial turbulence of the night, the rest of it went by smoothly, and the next morning Peter woke up, groggily blinking his eyes open as he glanced to the clock. He was awake nearly an hour too early for when he usually woke up. Shrugging it off as nothing, he grabbed his phone and clicked on Mr. Stark’s contact. He debated on bothering the man, but eventually chose to send a text message.

Peter Parker

Mr. Stark, I don’t want to bother you but we need to talk.

Tony had to know, right? He couldn’t possibly not have gotten the same letter Peter did.

Tony was a very busy man, reading letters was often left to Pepper and due to his popularity, seeing one letter out of thousands was difficult. He had no idea of the news yet.

He felt his phone vibrate during a meeting he didnt want to be in so he stepped out.

Tony Stark

Sure thing kid, anything to get me out of that snooze fest.

He sent back wondering what Peter needed to talk about. He hoped it wasn't something to serious as he really didn't want to work too much that day.

Peter’s face contorted into that of confusion, pulling his pajamas top off of his shoulders as he went to get a towel so he could take a bath. Might as well start early on his morning routine. He took hold of his phone again, might as well say it instead of delaying the inevitable.

Peter Parker

Did you get your letter?

It was a simple question, wasn’t it? Everyone knew what the letter was, right? But then again, a busy man such as Stark might be getting hundreds of letters and emails a day...

Tony seemed confused wondering if he meant _the_ letter. Of course he had gotten a letter, many years ago stating he didnt have a match.

Tony Stark

What do you mean? My match letter was blank so if you're looking for advice about your letter, talk to your aunt.

He brushed it off easily not thinking much of it, however he did message Pepper if there was any important mail in case he was mailed something unrelated to the match.

Peter felt himself freeze when he read the message. So he hadn’t gotten one? He frowned, thinking back to Aunt May’s words and wanting to cry. So it truly had been a mixup? How would he contact the match making service now?

Peter Parker

Oh, I got my letter yesterday, it said it was you but there must’ve been a mixup.

He felt awful now, and tried to send the message off as nothing, as if he wasn’t truly effected by it, when in reality he wanted to cry.

Tony froze seeing the message, he knew the seriousness of those matches so he quickly made his way to find Pepper who delt with most if his mail.

She stood with a stack of letters in her arms as Tony had told her to check. She did not expect Tony to knock every paper onto the floor and rummage through it.

It just couldnt be true, Tony didnt have a match, he didn't! That is until he saw it. The letter adressed to him from The American Department of Matched Parings.

He ripped it open, uncaring of the fact he had gotten a mild paper cut in the process.

There it was, Peter Parker's name printed at the bottom of the page with a note of apology for the wait. It explained at the time Tony had no living match, and they were unable to alert him until Peter had reached 16.

He grabbed out his phone and quickly texted Peter back.

Tony Stark

Get over here as fast as you can, we need to talk about this.

Peter was pacing around his room, already trying to make up a plan that would involve some form of contact with the service so he could be matched appropriately. His phone beeped to the sound of a new message coming through, hesitantly taking his phone into his hands as shock flooded him.

Peter Parker

Mr. Stark? What do you mean by that?

I have class??

He had a Spanish test that day, but above all Tony Stark was his decision maker. If Stark was telling him to go to him, then he would. He got dressed, stealthily moving around his apartment as he made sure May was already gone, grabbing his backpack and shoving a couple of his books inside in case he still had time to return to school. He soon walked out the door, locking the door behind him, checking his phone to see if he’d gotten an answer.

Tony Stark

Skip, I'll write your school a note.

He sent as he tried to think of how to adress the situation. He couldn't be with Peter, he was way too young... However he didn't want to break the boys heart and it was literally illegal to not marry the match.

Peter made a face once he saw the message, but ultimately decided to not question the man any further as he ran out of the apartment, running to take the bus and make his way to the tower.

Tony sat with nervousness showing by his bouncing leg. He didn't know how to treat this conversation. He didn't know if Peter was wanting this or if he was up to making an agreement. It was a bothersome issue but it wasn't Peters fault.

It took about an hour or so, but soon enough Peter managed to arrive at the tower, using his pass to go up the floors as he tried to get to where Tony was, taking a second to maneuver himself around before arriving at his office, opening the door awkwardly “Mr.Stark?"

Tony jumped slightly and took a deep shaky breath. God he wished he knew how to do emotions. He didnt know how to handle this.

"Sit down, um... Oh god, we have to decide how to treat this... Situation, and I want to know how you feel about this before I start talking."

Peter swallowed a little too hard, letting the door close behind him, going to sit down in front of his mentor, his hands fidgeting around nervously “U-Um- well I’m fine with it?” No, he was more than fine. He was absolutely enamored by the older man and would wish to shout his excitement about this agreement more than anything “What about you?"

"Look Peter, I don't know what they were thinking matching us together. We will marry and you can move in but we should discuss an agreement," he couldn't believe he had to have this talk.

"You're just too young, I've been with more people than you could imagine, I just could never be /that/ way with you. So I was thinking maybe an open marriage..." He said hoping this didn't back fire. He didn't even know if Peter knew what an open marriage was.

Peter froze, he felt like all his worst nightmares and expectations regarding his matched pair had come to reality. It wasn’t like he was expecting Tony to be a hundred percent on board to this agreement, after all, he knew he was far too young for the older man, and in the public’s eye Mr. Stark would be annihilated by the media.

“I...” He bit his lip, he had no room to disagree, it was an unfavorable agreement for Tony, and he wouldn’t force his own opinion onto him “Yeah, that sounds fine to me."

Tony sighed seeming relieved. However Peter seemed off to him. Perhaps he wasn't being completely truthful. Not that it mattered, he just knew they wouldn't work out.

"Great, that's so much of a relief. So we have 6 months to make it legal, have a ceremony, whatever you prefer to do. We can take care of that soon and then we need to get your things, move them here." He explained as he sent a few messages on his phone.

“Oh uh- yeah.” He cleared his throat, getting rid of the uneasy squeaky tone to it as he pulled out his phone “You might want to talk to my aunt before we get my things— um, since last time you were there she was pretty shocked?” He offered, remembering how Aunt May would probably want to have a chat with Tony about the arrangement, but she’d certainly be happy when she’d find out that tony wanted nothing to do with him except follow the law established by the matching service.

He’d always imagined a grand wedding full of love and decorations that he’d slaved over planning, but now it just seemed like every part of that was crumbling around him.

"Of course, I'll sit with her when we get your stuff... tomorrow? That way you can just relax the rest of today and get acquainted with your room. Not to mention I was kind of busy and should probably get back to work," he mumbled the last part seeming not so excited to get back to work.

Tony had no idea how much it meant to Peter. He didn't even entertain the idea that he was unintentionally hurting the kid.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” He flashed Tony a nervous smile, as if assuring he’d be fine. “Uh- I think I’ll go back to school though. I may be able to catch my first class if I go now.” He grabbed his back pack which he’d discarded on the ground previously, his hands were shaking, and he hoped Mr. Stark hadn’t taken notice. “I’ll see you tomorrow then? May would freak out if I just went and stayed here.” He laughed a little, masking his true emotions.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow..." He said seeming to catch on to Peters odd behavior. He shrugged it off and got back to work trying not to fret over what the media would say about Peter. Sure he was young but considering they were matched many people wouldnt see a problem with them being together. He was worried how Peter would be able to keep his identity secret if the paparazzi was going to be chasing him down.

Peter gave a final nod, waving Tony goodbye as he opened the door and started making his way down, having to hold back tears in the elevator and avoiding the stares of many well dressed business men and women. He bit his lip to keep himself together, and eventually reached the outside of the building, blending in with the crowd of many tired New Yorkers. He raised the hood of his jacket to the top of his head, and immediately wasn’t able to keep it inside anymore. He started openly crying, staying quiet as he made his way to the train station. It’d be another hour and a half before he even got to school, and he was almost glad his Spanish test wasn’t at first hour or he’d be inexplicably doomed. He just hoped he didn’t get detention for skipping first period.


	3. Chapter 3

 

First thing in the morning Tony texted Peter. He had gotten the room next to his set up for Peter and wasnt busy so he could come and help Peter get his things and meet with May.

Tony Stark

Omw

He sent hoping he used that term correctly.

It was a good thing today was a Saturday. It meant getting May to take off the day was easier, and it meant Peter wouldn’t stress about going to school yet again. Seeing the message, he sank down into his floor, his room having been stripped of everything him and packed into neat boxes.

Peter Parker

Ok.

The ride was too long for Tony's patients. So when he arrived he got out and stretched. He went through the building looking for Peter's apartment number, after spotting the digits, he knocked rather loudly.

Peter had even closed his eyes, expecting Tony to have taken longer, and the knock startled him right up as he raced to the door, before May would even get to it. He opened the door, clearing his throat as he awkwardly rubbed his arm “Hey Mr. Stark.”

Tony had his hands in his pockets as he stepped in.

"Kid..." He greeted with a hum as he looked around the place not having been there is quite a while. Not much had changed so he decided to take a seat. "Happy is outside ready to help get you're stuff loaded." He added as he waited for May who had just entered the room.

May seemed hesitant about Tony's presence. She wanted to speak to him alone, she turned to Peter, "get your stuff loaded, I'm just gonna have a word with him," she whispered.

“Ah... I can do that. Mr. Happy won’t be too... happy? With having me make him lift the weight of my boxes.” He explained, before his aunt walked into the room, making Peter wordlessly nod as he drifted off to his room to collect some boxes, he had to make it look like it was hard to lift all of them (even though he was carrying a pretty large amount o them). He slowly walked out of the apartment and downstairs, where he immediately saw the fancy new Audi, rolling his eyes as he walked closer to it. Seriously, his neighbors might be creeped out by seeing such a nice car in this part of town.

Meanwhile May had interrogated Tony, asking to what extent would this go, where were his limits with Peter and lastly her threat that if Peter ever got hurt she would come after Tony with vengeance.

However Tony tried to ease her by explaining the agreement they had, that only made her upset. She knew how important peter saw his match as, and she knew this "open marriage" was just an excuse to cheat. The law was that they were lovers, anything else was not right...

Before Peter could come to get the rest of his things, shouting was heard through the door by an angry May.

Peter had been right to have expected a very unhappy Happy Hogan waiting for him in the car. He waved him off before he could even get out to help him, and put his things into the car, walking back to the apartment to get the rest of his things. He almost felt nostalgic, the shitty and small apartment complex had been his home since his parents had passed away, and in a way... it made him remember that this was the last place that any memory of Uncle Ben would remain in. Sighing, he walked to the apartment, not even needing to get close enough to hear the shouting, starting to run as fast as possible as he threw the door open and rushed inside “Whats going on?” He asked, clearly visibly upset.

May held her breath not liking to upset Peter. Her demeanor changed as she quickly hugged him.

"Its nothing bud, oh I'm just gonna miss you so much," she squeezed him tightly as Tony waited for the embrace to end. He didnt enjoy getting yelled at but he could understand where May was coming from.

Peter was a little taken aback by the sudden hug, but knew that this was just as hard for May as it was for him. He hugged her back, making sure he was as gentle as possible as he buried his head into the crook of her shoulder, trying not to cry. “I’ll miss you too, May.” She was the only family he had left, and even though he’d soon become Tony’s husband, he knew the man wouldn’t see him as one.

May rubbed Peter's back before pulling away. She wiped some tears from her cheeks before smiling.

"You better call me often! And I want you at least every other weekend, you hear!" She said with a sniffle and blotchy red cheeks.

Tony stood and felt incredibly awkward about the amount of emotion in the room at the moment.

Peter sniffed, nodding as he gave May a smile “Of course. How could I miss out on movie nights or going with you to eat at the Thai restaurant across the street?” Even if he has to retain a glare of pure “DONT look at my aunt” from crossing his face each time one of the employees flirts with her. “I’ll call you later okay?” He asked, gently moving away from her as he walked back to his room, hauling back the rest of the boxes, sort of hiding his face behind them. As if that would stop him from showing his real emotions or bursting into tears. He almost wanted to get his boxes back into his room, unpack them and lay on his nearly 10 year old bedding and lay there forever. He didn’t feel ready to leave May just yet- but he had to.

Tony held out his hand for May to shake. "It was a pleasure, May," he said politely only to receive a burning glare from the woman. She gripped his hand tightly and pulled Tony in to whisper to him.

"If You hurt my baby, I will hurt you, I promise," she said before pulling away.

Tony nodded with wide eyes as the lady could be terrifying at times. "Understood, lets get going." He said to Peter once he saw he got the last of his boxes.

Peter would rather pretend he didn’t hear the threat, wanting to save it for later when he needed some form of comfort. “Uh... yeah.” He cleared his throat, walking towards the door as he shot May a helplessly lost look, waiting for Tony to walk out of the apartment before closing the door behind him using his leg. “So um... We’re going now, right?” He asked, starting to walk down the hallway.

He walked out and stayed with Peter as they exited. "Yes, and with that we should talk about the press. Obviously as soon as the news gets released, you are gonna have interviews, and articles about you, I just thought I should warn you."

Peter flinched, he didn’t even do well with talking to regular people face to face, he almost expects him to be ripped apart by reporters and articles. “You’re okay with that?” He asked, instead of a swarm of other questions regarding how painful it’d be to deal with the press “I mean... since I’m so young and they might judge you?” He offered.

"Its not my fault they matched us, I think it would be more of an issue if I went against the match Peter," he explained as they got outside. He opened the trunk for Peter to set the rest of his things in.

“I guess so...” he trailed off, not wanting to really further talk about it. It’d be an obstacle he’d sooner or later have to face, like how he was supposed to keep his secret identity or how he’d continue going to school once everyone knew who his matched pair was. He lowered the remaining boxes into the trunk, sighing, feeling just a little bit more upset than he had that morning.

"Its not so bad Peter, you'll get used to it," he assured the boy before going to the car door and opening it for him.

"Bright side, I have money to blow so any sort of wedding you like, all up to you." He said trying to lift his spirits.

Peter mumbled an “I hope so” that he hoped Tony didn’t hear, moving towards the door of the car and sitting down on the plush and comfortable seats of the car. He felt awkwardly out of place, with his Star Trek t-shirt and baggie jacket on top, his messy jeans and sneakers that could do with being replaced sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, well- I haven’t really thought about what my own wedding would be like since I was like... seven.” Again, another lie, just last week Ned and him had browsed hundreds of wedding related images on Pinterest’s and had made a hundred or so mood boards for it, both excited about the prospect of Peter turning 16 and getting married soon. “Besides I Uh... I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be down for a really large princess themed wedding like I wanted when I was six?” Back when he’d had a crush on a girl in his class and had dreamed of her wearing a big princess dress and that he’d be her knight in shining armor, a prince for her to love.

What a joke.

"As long as I'm not the princess," he quipped as he took his seat and motioned for happy to start driving.

"The media wants something big, but don't let that sway your decision, do what makes you happy, I'll be pleased with anything that gives the press something."

“What? Why would you be the princess? I totally want to wear that big wedding dress Cinderella wears at the end of her movie.” He was obviously joking, wearing such a thing would be sort of awkward- how did she even walk in that thing? And god- the glass slippers. “But I mean... that’s only something I thought of a long time ago- I really don’t have any ideas.” He shrugged “I always wanted a big wedding, but I didn’t know ho you’d feel about it, so maybe we can come to an agreement on that as well?"

"Sure thing, I mean I am Tony Stark, everything about me is big," he said originally talking about the events and machines he builds but he snorted as his mind went to the gutter. "That was a really good line... Damn, should have used that a week ago," he whispered to himself.

Peter, however, was not a stranger to innuendos and sexual underlines to normal every day sentences, and promptly felt his cheeks heat up as he sank into the seat, shoulders hunching up “Last week? For what?” He asked, trying to distract Tony from noticing how clearly flustered he is.

"This reporter was asking questions and I'm pretty sure she was flirting so I tried some pick up lines," he said leaving out the fun he had with her in his bed.

“Oh... um... that sounds fun?” He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. But then again- he had no place to feel jealousy or anything remotely negative, after all, he and Tony were nothing more than matched pairs.

The ride was smooth to Starks, he got out of the car as soon as it had stopped. "Also, kid, you probably shouldn't do the spider thing for a while, till everything cools with the media. Which will probably start getting crazy tonight because you're moving in."

Now that, Peter had something to say about. “But- who’s gonna protect the people if I’m gone?” Cops, probably, but even they wouldn’t risk their life fighting villains with alien technology, it would be suicidal. “I can’t just give up being spiderman. Even if it’s for a bit."

"If you go out there, all eyes are going to be on Peter Parker. Someone is going to follow you at the wrong time or someone's gonna match your voice to spiderman, and then what? They'll keep it a secret? No, the media will tear you apart because that's what they do," he said getting close to Peter with seriousness.

Flinching, he pouted his lips involuntarily, sinking further into the seat. Tony had a point, and a very valid one at that. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to go against the mans wishes to continue doing the one thing he felt whole doing, but he knew when to back down (sort of) and admit defeat. “You’re...right.” He sighed “But If they can easily match my voice to Spider-Man’s how will I ever go back to being him?"

"Maybe we can fix something up for you, change your voice through the mask... We'll work on it, now come on kid. Let's get inside," He said as he gestured for him to follow.

“Yeah... okay.” He sighed, a voice modifier would be for the best to begin with. Anyone could’ve matched his voice to Spider-Man’s any day. So instead of dwelling on how much he sucks at being a super hero, he gets out of the car and follows after Tony.

Tony sent a few people down to get Peter's stuff as he went to show him his room. He guided Peter down the hall and stopped at the door.

"This room is yours, mine is the next door down, always knock before you enter mine, okay?"

Peter nodded, not like he was actually going to go into Tony’s room without asking permission in the first place. “Yeah, okay.” He peeked into his own room, staring in absolute shock at the large and grand room that greeted him. This was such a huge upgrade from his tiny little room in Queens. He was baffled, but he should’ve expected such a grand room. He was in Tony Stark’s home after all.

"Get together a list of decorations and furniture you might want in here, personalize it, and then give the list to Pepper, she'll take care of it," Tony said uncaringly as he approved his statement on his phone about his match so it could be published.

Peter nodded, unsure of how he was supposed to fill out such a space. It felt just as big as his apartment, and Peter had always been a little too hesitant in terms of spending money. This would be yet another thing he’ll have to get used to.

"Welp, get settled, I'll see you for dinner?" He said ready to leave Peter alone to do his own thing.

“Yeah.” He stepped into the room, might as well browse for the furniture and decorations to keep himself busy. “Yeah, I’ll see you for dinner."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell yet, I've been updating every other day, I'll try to keep that up.

Hours had past and Tony hardly even seen Peter. He was off designing and building upgrades and such. Pepper knocked on Peters door at about 5 and waited.

Peter had barely finished his little list of things he’d wanted for the room. He’d listed off some pretty inexpensive items, and most of them were just things he’d need for every day life. Like toothpaste and a new toothbrush since his had long passed the two month mark. At the knock on his door, he was noticeably startled, having to stop himself from jumping into the ceiling as he walked to the door, opening it “M-Ms. Potts! Hi- Uh- yes?"

"Hi, eventful few days?" She asked being as polite as possible considering that her and Tony were hitting it off and now it wasn't possible to be with the man. She knew it wasn't anyone's fault so it was pointless to show anger.

“You could say that...” he mumbled off, looking a little flustered “Oh- sorry, probably super rude um- how are you Ms. Potts?"

"I'm okay, I hope you're settling in well?" She asked trying to work up to the business of the countless interview requests.

“Yeah, everything’s fine- just have to get used to everything.” He mumbled, before remembering the list as he fumbled over his hands as he took his phone from his pocket “U-Um- Mr. Stark told me I should send you a list of the things I wanted for my room... but I don’t really have your contact number—"

Pepper grabbed out her phone and texted Peter. Of course she had his number, she was in charge of tons of Tony's contacts.

"And with that, we should talk about your schedule, when you're free so we can set up interviews."

Peter perked up at the text, deciding to not question how she had his number— must be because she’s so close to Mr. Stark. “Interviews? So soon?” He asked, fidgeting a little as he sent her the list, he’d thought it would’ve taken a little longer to get the media’s attention on him.

"People follow Tony like a celebrity, which he kind of is. It was presumed he didnt have a match and now out of no where you pop up, people are egear to meet with you," she explained. She viewed the list and started to order the items.

"Free tomorrow? Or would you rather get settled in and wait a few weeks," Pepper suggested.

“That makes sense I guess?” No, not really, but then again, he was just now going to get his fair share of spotlight. So it was better he tried to make heads or tails of it before it was too late. “Tomorrow’s fine, I don’t really have anything to do."

"Great! And you and Tony can meet with a wedding planner in the morning. As of now, he's about to order dinner if you want to go to the living room to join him," she said marking a few things on her board.

Peter nodded his head, before shooting Pepper a rather awkward look, he seemed a little lost. “Ms.Potts- do you think I should join him? He doesn’t really seem happy to have me as his match and I really don’t want to bother him..."

Pepper sighed before leaning in the door frame. She really shouldn't be spilling information about Tony without the man's permission but she couldn't take having the kid think Tony wasn't happy with him.

"Tony is a complicated person. On his 16th birthday he was informed he didn't have a match which sent him into a reckless phase of using others to simulate happiness. Of course it only works for a short period of time because sex is not the same as love. I think he had already accepted the fact he didn't have a match and now he's got his walls up. Not to mention he wants to protect you, I doubt he would ever imagine using you like he does others," She sighed trying to analyze him. Tony had to have been heartbroken all those years ago. You couldn't blame the man for trying to shove emotions away.

Now at that, Peter felt pretty guilty. He hadn’t even thought about how this was affecting Tony. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was like to not acquire a match once you turned 16. It would explain a lot of behavioral issues he’s heard about from Tony’s wild wild 20’s. He nodded his head, understanding where Pepper was coming from; never having received his letter and now having to deal with the fact that his pseudo mentee who he probably thought nothing more than just a kid was now his match. His shoulders sagged, still not quite over it, but he did understand it anyways. “Yeah I... can see why he’s not really happy about it."

"I think with time and one on one conversations he'll warm up to you," Pepper gave him a warm smile. She knew Tony thought highly of the boy, excited to hear progress with Spider-Man and to upgrade his suit.

“Maybe...” he cleared his throat “S-So then I should join him for dinner?” He asked, still hesitant, though her words managed to lift his spirits a bit.

"Its only gonna get better if you work for it. You should go," Pepper suggested giving him a pat on the back.

Peter nodded, becoming a little more encouraged as he flashed Pepper a bright smile, clearly having his spirits lifted. “I- okay! I’ll see you later Ms. Potts! Thank you!” He said, rushing towards where the living room was.

Pepper chuckled lightly before sighing. "Don't hurt him Tony," she mumbled.

* * *

 

Tony sat on the couch with the TV on, scrolling through movies. He looked up when he heard footsteps.

"Hey kid, what kind of pizza do you want?" He asked gesturing for him to take a seat on the couch.

Peter allowed himself to smile, he felt a little better with Pepper’s words, so he say down on the couch, not overly close to Tony though, not wanting to push it. “Um... I’m not sure. As long as it’s not pineapple pizza I’m fine with anything."

"Pepperoni it is," he said sending a quick text to tell Pepper to order pizza.

"Any movie preferences?" He asked figuring that this may have been a little awkward and movies always helped because they didnt have to talk.

Peter tapped his bottom lip with his index finger as he tried to think about which movie he’d make the older man watch with him. He’s yet to finish watching all of Star Wars with Ned, and it’d take too long to catch Tony up, so he decided to go for something simpler “Maybe Zombieland?” He blinked, usually he didn’t like zombie movies, but it was a pretty good and funny movie, and it was only one, so it wouldn’t make Peter want to stay up extremely late (or never fall asleep for that matter) just to try and finish half of the series.

Tony looked it up and selected it. He didnt get to watch movies all the time so he hadn't seen it yet.

"Alrighty kid, better be good," he teased and he was sure he'd like it.

“Well, if you like comedy and slight gore it should be pretty entertaining?” He suggested, relaxing into the couch in a pretty awkward position, his right leg underneath him as the other one curled a little on top of it, his back fully resting against the backseat of the couch.

After the first 10 minutes, pizza got there. Tony set it out and grabbed a slice before resuming the movie. He tried his best not to give an awkward vibe but it was a very odd situation. They had one of the largest age gaps between matches. He was suddenly curious if Peter had even had sex before. He was a teenager but Tony had already had sex before 16 so maybe...

"Weird question, don't read into it, are you a virgin?" He asked like it was the most normal question in the universe.

Peter had been very happily munching away at a slice of pizza when the question was directed at him, he practically choked as he shot Tony a very scandalized look. Where was that coming from? Sure, it wasn’t exactly such a weird thing to ask considering their predicament, but still.

“I- what? No- I mean yes-“ He cleared his throat, hitting his chest a couple of times to try and clear his air way “I’m... I've never had sexual intercourse before."

Tony snorted at that and raised an eyebrow. He glanced over to Peter.

"Yeah, no one would want to Fuck a kid that calls it "sexual intercourse." Just call it sex, or fucking, no need to be weird about it," Tony said trying to calm him.

With that came the thoughts of how could he ever even touch Peter, he was too pure and deserved better than a player like Tony. He could never lay a hand on Peter and taint the poor kid, it was for the best to keep distance.

Peter looked far more flustered at that. His eyebrows furrowed in indignation and his lips parted in choked sentences “I- what- no- I-“ he made a high noise with the back of his throat, trying to compose himself. “For your information, I did get asked out and I was this close to getting laid once, I just didn’t want to because I was waiting for-“ he stopped right there. He was waiting for his matched pair. But in hindsight, maybe he should’ve actually gotten laid. It didn’t seem like that would be a possibility any time soon.

But Tony had been right- the amount of times Peter had been asked out had been quite small- and after his total mess of a failure with Liz the only romance he was getting were from drunk teenagers at parties Ned had dragged him to.

Tony paused hearing that Peter was waiting. He knew what he was waiting for. He must have been so disappointed to have Tony as his pair.

"Well, I don't mind, go have fun, be a teenager, find yourself someone, it helps with the disappointment," he mumbled the last part hoping Peter wouldn't ask what he meant. He was not comfortable to lay his feeling out yet.

But Peter had heard. And with his new found knowledge of why Tony acted the way he did, he felt pretty bad. “I doubt the teenagers I know want to do something like that with me when half the school has met their matches.” He shrugged it off “Besides I’m not really interested? I just... never really thought about it.” He admitted, leaning against the arm rest of the couch, trying to distance himself a bit “Besides, as soon as I can get a voice modifier in my suit I’ll go back to being Spider-Man. And then it’ll be the same thing like in the past two years. I’ll be too busy for anyone."

Tony sighed, he'd let Peter do what he wanted. He just wanted to protect him. Avoid upsetting him.

"Very well... I should be getting to bed, you should too, I'm getting you up at 6," Tony said when the movie hit the credits.

By this point, Peter had been using the arm rest as a pillow, curled himself into a bit of a ball as he looked terribly small in his rather large clothes. Nodding, he slowly sat back up again, stretching as he stood up “Um... I’ll see you in the morning then?” He said, waving goodbye as he walked towards his new bedroom, glad to have escaped that mess as he closed the door behind him, practically collapsing onto the bed shortly after.

Tony needed a damn drink. This was increadably stressful. He walked over to his alcohol cabinet and grabbed a glass and a bottle of liquor. He ended up not using the glass and just took the whole bottle to his room. He needed it.

Peter curled into the covers, he didn’t even bother changing into something else, he felt exhausted. And not the good kind of exhausted like he experienced after a hard day of being a super hero. This was the emotional exhaustion that was draining him. So to combat it, he hugged his pillow as tight as possible, not liking how it smelt so foreign and clean, and tried to fall asleep as he pushed back tears.


	5. Chapter 5

As Tony had said, he knocked on Peter's door at 6 a.m. They had things to do, weddings to plan, interviews to go to and more.

"Wakey wakey! My chef is making breakfast!" He shouted.

Peter was startled awake, and this time, he did reach the ceiling, his back firmly pressed to it as he groggily blinked his eyes open and close multiple times to get rid of the sleepiness. “W-What?” He asked quietly, before remembering where he was as he slowly moved down from the ceiling (via crawling down the walls) as he walked towards the door, opening it “Is... were you really serious about waking me up at 6 am?"

"Yeah! We are busy today, we meet with the wedding planner and then you go to your interviews," he explained waiting for Peter to exit his room.

"Not to mention we need to find you something to wear on camera because that's not going to cut it."

“Oh...” yeah now waking up at 6 am made sense. Even if it was on a weekend... this sucked. “What’s wrong with my clothes?” He asked, but then a second after regretted it “Wait- no, nevermind- I see what’s wrong with it.” He literally looked like Tony had picked him up from the streets, while the man looked crisp and fresh with his tight and extremely expensive clothes.

Tony chuckled before walking down the hall gesturing for Peter to follow.

"The planner is waiting in my office, hope you have ideas," he said with a hum.

Peter bit his lip, ideas? Should he show the planner the mood boards and things he’s saved to his Pinterest? He felt quite overwhelmed really. “I guess I can show them the things Ned and I were looking at...” he let that slip out, clearly now hinting at the fact that he had actually thought about this in detail.

Tony smirked at that. He was glad that Peter was looking forward to marriage because that meant Peter didn't dread being around him.

"Excited?" He asked Peter, most people were very excited for their wedding, even if they were planning an open marriage.

Peter shrugged, masking how truly excited he actually was “Well, marriage is a really big thing so I guess so?” He hummed a little at the end “Besides, I’ll finally have something to put my dumb moodboards and pins instead of filling up my phones storage."

Tony chuckled as he lead the way to his office. The planner was a smaller brunette girl who sat with her legs crossed. She smiled at the two when they came in.

"You must be Peter, I've heard alot about you already," she greeted.

“Um- nice to meet you?” He offered, clearly taken a back. Had the news about how he was Tony’s match spread so fast? He’d been too busy with the list and then holding back emotions yesterday to fully check social media.

Tony took a seat in front of her, looking her up and down.

"You must be a really good wedding planner, did you plan your own?" Tony asked seeming to already be off topic. The woman chuckled and shook her head.

"I don't have a match," she stated which peaked Tony's intrest more. 

Peter noticed it immediately. The way Tony was staring at that woman wasn’t exactly in a friendly way. He felt like Tony was more or less undressing the woman with his eyes right in front of him. And Peter was not one bit happy about it. From here he took a seat, he crossed a leg over the other, his hands awkwardly resting at his lap as he tried to shake away those thoughts.

Tony had strictly said this was an open marriage, so why was he getting so upset? They were nothing more than two people matched together, and Peter was a fool to think anything more. So why was he feeling almost green with jealousy?

"Shall we get down to business? The location? Anywhere specific?" She asked. Tony only had one condition.

"Just somewhere warm, other than that Peter can choose," he did not want to be freezing his ass off.

“That sounds fine to me?” He offered, he also didn’t feel the need to be in freezing temperatures the day he got married. “I never really thought about where exactly- so maybe we can reach some sort of agreement?"

"Yeah, I really don't mind where," Tony assured trying to brainstorm some places.

“Maybe just not somewhere outside? Because it might rain and that way there’ll be less chances of paparazzi getting inside?” He offered, still unsure.

"Do you like traditional weddings? Like held in a church? Or...?" She asked taking some notes.

“Not necessarily.” He mumbled “My Aunt is religious, but I never really imagined myself getting married in a church... and even then, not by a priest."

"So indoors, not a church... There's a very large event building in Hawaii, very beautiful views, and exceptional honeymoon spots," she suggested taking out a few pictures for them to see.

“Hawaii?” He asked, quite startled “I’ve never been to Hawaii...” he mumbled, the fact that Tony could just afford this kind of thing whenever he wanted to. Again, it was to be expected, but this was a large jump from barely having money to buy some sandwiches from Delmar.

"Yeah, if that sounds good to you? also write down your food requests. I've got the best cake baker in America designing your cake, I can send decorations and set ups for you to approve. And find something to wear on your wedding day, there are other options than just black and white suits," she listed before noticing Tony's stare. She smirked slightly with before handing him her card with her number.

Peter decided that later he’d have to google his way through various fancy dishes later on, as well as different suits. He didn’t give any of this much thought, always fancying the aesthetics behind it and not giving it much thought. Regardless, the stares shared between the two were still bothering him.

"Maybe you want to stay for breakfast? Surely you can make some time in your schedule?" Tony said with a low voice trying to get the girl to fall into his trap. Unfortunately for him she shook her head once again.

"I have to get going," she said as she stood. She knew where that was going and she didn't want to be a homewrecker. She felt a little sorry for Peter actually. Open marriages werent exactly non-existent, but normally people had the decency not to flirt right in front of their lover. Otherwise she might have been up for it.

It is to be said that jealousy was like a bug. It took a while to manifest and properly show, but when it did, it came in sparks of outbursts and ugly manifested feelings. And Peter, who was already a storm of emotions from the idea of an “open marriage”, was quickly starting to be affected by this. He curled his lips into a frown, his nose scrunched up a bit in distaste.

Without thinking of it, he stood up from his seat, expression of that of pure heart break “No, you know what? Why don’t you two have breakfast together. I’m just-“ he quickly realized his actions, stuttering “lm not hungry. I’m just gonna go.” He mumbled, before practically storming out of there. What has he done? He just embarrassed himself in front of Mr. Stark! And for nothing because the older man was nothing to him, and Peter was less than nothing to the other man.

Tony seemed thrown off by the behavior. Peter never acted like that and it made him concerned. He stood rushing after Peter leaving the planner.

"Peter! Stop, what was that? That was increadably rude," he said wanting the boy to stop and talk to him.

“Rude?” He turned around using his heel, absolutely livid as he wore a frown that didn’t suit him at all “Rude!? So I’m the one that’s rude!?” His cheeks and nose were red from sheer anger, clearly beyond upset “I- just- I know you wanted this to be an open marriage but you don’t have to flirt with- with- that! In front of me! I’m-“ he sniffed, feeling hot tears welling up in his eyes “Just... forget it."

Tony wanted to comfort Peter but he didn't have the right. Peter deserved better than him, Tony didn't even deserve a match.

"Lets just... Get some food," he said calmly trying to get Peter to follow him.

“No.” He crossed his arms over his chest, clearly upset. “I’m not hungry- and- I just- leave me alone.” He was near tears. A few days ago he was so excited and happy about receiving his letter, but now, even when he got the person he wanted, he just wished he hadn’t gotten it.

"Please don't be difficult, you and I both know your metabolism won't allow you to skip a meal," Tony crossed his arms assuming a parental position.

“Yeah well, you don’t know everything about me or- or my metabolism! I can live on just fine without eating a meal or two.” Wrong, skipping meals felt like he’d skipped an entire day of food, and with how much he moved around and used his spider abilities, it physically took a giant toll on him. “I’m not hungry, and I don’t want to eat with you, that’s final."

Tony was not in the mood to argue. He cared too much about Peter to let him just skip because he was angry.

"I know I'm a piece of shit match, okay, just at least take care of yourself," Tony requested as he desperately wanted Peter to eat something.

“You’re not a piece of- Well- yeah, okay- you are- but that doesn’t mean anything!” He was still very upset “If I had been told three days ago you were gonna be my match I would’ve been so happy! But now here I am and honestly I wish I didn’t get my stupid letter.” He felt tears streaming down his face now.

“I always thought my match would love me. But here you are outright flirting with someone else in front of me! And I just-“ he shook his head, throwing his hands up in exasperation before practically rushing away from Tony. He could get food later, when he was alone.

Tony interpreted Peter's words slightly different than what Peter had meant. In Tony's mind Peter was upset he had gotten Tony as a match, maybe not at first, but once he showed his true colors. As stated so long ago, Tony wasn't fit to be with anyone, ever. He had to convince Peter to give up on him and accept the open marriage. It was the only way Peter's heart might be spared, to shut it down before he caught too strong feelings. Maybe he'd find solace in pleasure as well. He left Peter be.

Peter wasn’t even sure if he was happier knowing Tony hadn’t followed him, or even angrier that the other man had let him go that easily. Regardless, he wasn’t in a clear enough space of mind, and had rushed as far away from Tony as he possibly could. The only thing that always managed to cheer him up or help him relieve stress was being Spider-Man- but he heavily debated on it being a good idea or not. But again, he was in the worst mindsight possible, so he made his way back to his room and ripped a box open that he knew had his suit in it. After all... if he didn’t talk, they’d never know, right?

Tony knew he should back off, if he kept trying to get through to the kid it would only cause more anger. This was something he'd have to deal with later. And unfortunately the only way he could think to deal with it is to let Peter know that there was nothing between them so he would move on and avoid getting hurt by Tony.

Peter grabbed one of his backpacks and threw his suit inside, closing it up as he made his way out of the tower, making sure no one saw him and staying in the shadows as he swiftly changed into his suit, relishing in the feel of how good it felt to be Spider-Man once he had the suit on. He webbed his backpack to the nearest wall. And practically instantly swung away. This was better, and it made him feel a lot better. He just felt so in control and free, so it did wonders for his mood. And now, it was time to fight crime and help people in need.

As soon as the suit was activated, Tony got an alert. He was furious.

"Incoming call from Tony Stark." Karen chimed in Peter's ear.

“What?!” He hissed “I don’t want to talk with him. Cancel the call.” He replied to Karen, he’d have to prod at his suit later to see if he could just deactivate the trackers in a way Tony wouldn’t notice. This was ridiculous.

"Command override, accepting call," Karen said despite the order to cancel.

"What the hell are you going kid? I told you not to do the Spider-Man thing!" Tony sounded irritated.

“Oh come on!” He swung to the nearest building, perching on the edge of it as he slapped his face in exhaustion.

“I’m not even talking! Well okay- now I am- but no one saw me change, and I’m careful! And I haven’t patrolled in days!"

"Do you not have the patients to just wait for the media to cool!? You're busy today and I need you back here now," Tony scolded into the phone.

“Crime doesn’t wait for the media to cool!” He stopped perching now, pacing back and forth on the ledge of the building. “And besides- Ms. Potts never gave me an exact time for the interviews. I’ll just go back soon enough."

"Kid, I will not ask you again, get back here, NOW!" Tony growled as he was upset Peter just disobeyed him and then proceeded to argue with him. He was just trying to keep Peter safe. Did he not understand that?

Peter bit his lip from spitting out a “Or what?” Tony’s tone of voice sounded genuinely scary, and he knew he was already in far too much shit. So grudgingly, he rolled his eyes and mumbled out a “Fine.” Ordering Karen to drop the call as he swung away. He’d have to find where he placed his backpack...

Tony put his phone up and went to the kitchen grabbing a muffin and waited for Peter to get back. He was frustrated, but he knew Peter was having a rough time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, busy weekend.

After about half an hour of struggling to find his backpack,  changing, and then stealthily going back to the tower, Peter made his way into the kitchen, a frown on his face as he determined whether or not he should speak up.

Tony was leaning on the counter munching on his chocolate muffin. He grabbed a second one and held it out for Peter to take.

"Eat it please. You need to eat it," Tony said calmly. He was trying not to show his frustration because Peter didnt deserve his anger, its wasnt Peter's fault Tony was his match.

Peter remained silent, waiting for the other to lash out or get angry with him as he reached over, taking the muffin into his hand and taking a bite out of it. When he swallowed, he cleared his throat, and mumbled out a “Thank you.” It helped calm the beast that was his stomach at least.

"Can you please listen to me Peter? Id never try to hurt you," Tony mumbled as he saw Peter wasn't blowing up.

"I won't flirt in front of you anymore, it was insensitive, I understand that," he finished keeping eye contact.

For a while, Peter simply stared at the other, as if searching to see if Tony was lying or not. "You promise you won't do that anymore?" he asked, sitting down opposite of the other as he crossed a foot over the other, the muffin laid untouched in his hand. He wanted to eat it, and he felt like he was starving, but he found it rude to eat in the middle of a conversation.

"I'll keep it to when you're not around," Tony confirmed with a nod.

A sighed escaped his lips, well, that was as good as it was going to get. "Deal." he said, and promtply took another bite out of his muffin.

"Good. Let's find you something sharp to wear, can't have your first public appearance be in those," Tony said gesturing to Peter's clothes.

"We get to play dress up," Tony hummed before looking back expecting Peter to follow him out the door.

"My clothes aren't that bad..." he mumbled under his breath, but knew that in a way, Tony was right. The press would eat him alive if he showed up in the clothes he was wearing. He finished his muffin, tossing the little paper into the trash can before following after Tony.

He really didn't know what to expect, all of his clothes were mostly from wallmart's and thrift shops that Aunt May could afford.

Tony lead him to a room with tons of clothes that had been just brought in. They were all extremely nice and expensive clothing, various styles and brands.

"Go look around, these are all yours," he said putting his hands in his pocket.

“All of them?” Peter asked, staring in bewilderment at the lineup of nice (and clearly expensive) clothing that he’d just been told to look around in. Hesitatingly, he walked closer to the clothes, looking at them in awe as he hesitated to touch them, as if he’d ruined them by mere touch.

"Yes, your image now effects mine. I need to make sure you're taken care of Peter," Tony answered as he looked through the clothes as well to see it he could find something nice for Peter.

“Oh.” He mumbled, looking through the clothes with shaky fingers. He wasn’t really the most fashionable person, in fact, he probably had some pretty bad sense of style. And now he just looked at a loss as to what to do.

Tony grabbed out a few items and tossed them to Peter. It was more of a teenage style however they were still nice clothes. A blue and black flannel along with some nice in ripped jeans and a new pair of shoes.

"There, thats something casual you can wear."

Peter gave a slow nod, taking the clothes into his arms and looking around for a changing room, once he found it, he stepped inside and changed, once he was done, he stepped outside, awkwardly staring at the other “How do I look?"

Tony looked him up and down before stepping closer and started messing with Peter's hair.

"You look good kid, fix your collar and then look in the mirror."

Awkwardly enough, Peter messed with the collar of his shirt, hoping it looked a little better now. “I’m not really sure how well this interview will go... I’m not really good at speaking..."

"They'll understand. You were just a normal boy from Queen's, they don't expect a excellent speaker. They just have some questions and all you do is answer honestly unless it is private," Tony tried to relax him. He left out the fact that people wanted pictures as well but that was a given when Peter would see the amount of paparazzi they'd run into.

“Yeah well... I don’t exactly want to become the laughing stock of the media.” He shrugged, he already suffered through his own share of public humiliation during high school, and he’d rather not experience how grand it would become if he said something wrong or stuttered too much throughout the interview.

"Worst case scenario, you stutter, everyone does at some point, you're just self-conscious," Tony assured seeming relaxed. Really he was actually kind of nervous. If the open marriage got out, some people don't support them, others do. It was controversial and he didn't need that drama.

Peter didn't look convinced at all- but he had nothing else to say about it- unless he were to stutter out a bunch of things that could immediately go wrong. "When's the interview?" he chose to ask instead, fidgeting on the spot where he stood. He felt out of place- like he didn't belong in the clothes he was wearing or where he was standing in exactly. He was a low-middle class child, paired up with a billionaire genius who could've gotten anyone better than him.

"Like... 5 minutes," Tony said glancing at his watch, he knew there were all kinds of reporters down stairs but Peter didn't seem ready to him. "Relax kid, don't stress yourself out."

Peter visibly flinched, that did not help his emotional stability whatsoever. He'd been expecting 10 maybe 30 minutes to prepare himself (if he was lucky), not five minutes! Now he felt like he was on the brink of a panic attack, how was he ever going to deal with all of these people!? "A-And we have to go now?" he asked, feeling even worse now.

"Yep, relax, I'll be close by so if you get choked up I'll try my best to help you out," he assured as he pushed Peter forward to the elevater gently.

Peter stumbled over his feet when he was pushed, but quickly recovered as he walked to the elevator. Once they finished descending, and the doors opened to reveal a flood of reporters, he desperately wanted to turn back around and cry. How was he going to get through this?

Tony put a hand on Peters lower back and rubbed gently to try and give Peter some comfort.

"Confidence kid, fake it until you make it," he mumbled as cameras started flashing immediately.

Peter blushed at the contact, forcing himself to wipe away his grimace with an extremely painfully forced smile, clearly not knowing what to do with himself. He tried to assure himself that he didn't have to do much aside from answering questions- but what if they were expecting an introduction? For him to talk about himself? Then it would suck because he's not an interesting person.

A tall blond woman clearly who had schedualed the main interview stepped forward with a camera man in toe. A microphone with the logo on the side was nearly shoved in Peter's face. It the matter of sceconds questions were thrown his way such as "what were your thoughts on the match," all the way to "do you plan to adopt children?" Absolutely hectic in the room and Tony did his best to try and control it.

Peter backed away a little bit, feeling a little claustrophobic to having people up in his space. "Content." he bit out for the main one- it wasn't a lie, he'd been ecstatic at first, but now it was dulled down with heart ache, and he stopped himself from becoming too upset by focusing on the fact that his crush had ended up as his match. He tried to answer as many as he could- and stuttered out an indecisive "I don't know" to the children one. He always wanted kids, but he doubts Tony does.

"How would you say the relationship between you and Stark is going? Your status?" She asked much to Tony's dismay. People were so noisy. He kind of hoped Peter would lie and say that it was fine, that they were engaged and leave it at that.

"I think that's a little too private- but we're fine, we get along well." he wasn't lying per-say, but their current relationship was far from what the reporters were going to think. And Peter would much rather them think everything was fine than to start a scandal.

"Many think Stark will be unloyal to you, do you think that is true?" It went down hill from there. "Do you think the age difference will effect your relationship?"

Even Tony was thrown a few questions that were extremely inappropriate about how his sex life would proceed with a young match. He took a deep breath and texted Pepper to shut this down quick.

"Um..." he glanced over to Tony, clearly flustered, unsure if he should keep quiet or make up something "I think that's a little too private- I don't think I can answer that." he stuttered, he can feel his hands shaking nervously. He didn't expect these questions to start ocurring- or at least not so soon.

Pepper came to the rescue, and started ushering people out with Happy. Tony grabbed peters wrist guiding him back to the elevator.

Peter didn’t even complain this time about being dragged away, allowing Tony to pull him to the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed Tony sighed. That was chaos and the next interview would certainly be one on one.

"You did a good job, handled it very well," Tony assured.

“I felt like I was going to get eaten alive.” He mumbled, hunching over himself as he looked pale. There were so many reporters- and there were more than a million questions being thrown at him.

"I know, it's okay, tonight, relax, get yourself ready for school tomorrow. No need to worry about anything else," Tony promised Peter.

“Ah crap what about school!” He  nearly had a heart attack “Now everyone’s going to know! That’s gonna be sooo awkward! And Flash- oh my god he’s going to bully me."

"Who in their right mind would bully the match of the fucking Tony Stark? AKA Iron Man. This kid must have a death wish," Tony growled slightly. He didn't want his- er-  _Peter_ to be picked on.

"Tell me if he messes with you, I'll scare the piss out of him and record it for blackmail."

“Let’s just say I’m not Flash’s favourite person.” He shrugged, the other had already messed with him when he’d revealed his internship at Stark Industries, going from saying it was fake to insinuating Peter had slept around to obtain it. It ticked him off- but he’d learnt to just ignore it.

He laughed a little at that, “I don’t think you’d be happy to see articles on Tony Stark messing with a high schooler just because they’re a bully."

"I'll do it, not like I'm beating him up, just a really stern talking to... In my suit... A mile in the sky... Just scare him a little," Tony was actually serious at this point.

“Oh god you’re serious?” He looked up at him, tilting his head to get a better look “No. You can’t do that."

"But I can, you just say the words, I'll do it," Tony swore. The elevator opened up and Tony stepped out.

Peter pursued his lips, the idea was definitely appealing... but he didn’t want to lower himself to that level. “It’s just a high school bully, I don’t need help dealing with him."

"Very well... You know what, invite some of your friends over tomorrow, we can have a little party," Tony suggested as he wanted to invite some people over as well.

Peter blinked, baffled “You’ll let me invite my friends from school over?” It felt bizarre— but he knew Ned would love it and MJ... well— she’d appreciate it- somewhat.

Tony smiled and nodded. "Of course! Now rest up kid."

Peter nodded "Thank you Mr. Stark!" he said, before practically bouncing away to text Ned and MJ about having them over.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are alive! I would love some ideas! comment some please!
> 
> Also if you're interested in writing fanfiction with me, follow fic_fanatic_rp on Insta. I post role play plots on there and some get turned into fanfic.

Tony had woken him up early with breakfast in hand. He knew the school day was probably going to be rough for Peter, probably going to be bombarded with questions and such. He had Happy drive Peter, as Tony was busy with work.

  
When Peter woke up, he was at least thankful Tony had given him breakfast. He usually just grabbed a slice of toast or bought some chips on the way to school, so this was nice, for a change. And despite the traffic and the weird stares he'd gotten and shocked gasps when he'd arrived at school in an all-new Audi, he appreciated not being squished in the train for once. He was nearly parting the crowds as he walked, people throwing questions left and right and he found himself very overwhelmed.

  
Ned found Peter quickly and pushed through the crowds of students.

  
"Dude! This is freaking insane. People are talking so much about you, tons of rumors too." Ned whispered to him.

  
“This sucks.” He hunched his shoulders “everyone’s staring at me...” he sighed “And they keep shouting questions and just-“ he ducked behind his friend as if trying to avoid the scrutinizing stares of his classmates.

  
"Flash is spreading rumors that Stark's your sugar daddy and you guys are in a super kinky relationship, I think he's just jealous," Ned hummed as he walked towards the class.

  
Peter choked on his breath, blushing all the way to the tip of his ears “What?! That’s not what’s going on at all! Mr. Stark isn’t even interested in me like that.” He fixed his backpack a little bit “It’s... an open marriage.” He whispered so only Ned could hear.

  
Ned paused for a moment before getting sympathetic. "Oh damn... I'm sorry man, I know you liked him too. He'll come around, they always do."

  
Peter sighed, shrugging “No, it’s fine... I know why he doesn’t like me and a match won’t suddenly make me a love interest.”

  
"You know the percentage that your relationship doesn't work out is extremely low. That matchmaking algorithm is impressive. It's like 1 in 100,000 matches don't work out," Ned did his best to try and lift Peter's spirits.

  
"Trust the math Peter, has it ever let you down before?" Ned smirked with a raised brow.

  
"Yeah, and I feel like I'm about to become that unlucky 1 out of 100,000." he neared his locker, placing his bag inside and retrieving his algebra notebook, glancing over the numerous anonymous letters that had been slipped into his locker -probably asking things about Tony stark- before closing it and guiding Ned using his hand towards their math class "Remember that time during freshman year where we used the formula the teacher gave us and it was a total mistake? What if my match is like that.

  
"The match system doesn't mess up, even if it doesn't work out romantically, you were matched with him for a reason, just give it time man," Ned tried to relax Peter. He didn't like his friend stressed.

  
“Yeah,” he gave a rather tired and airy laugh “Sure, I’ll wait. Not like I have a choice.” They got to their class, Peter opening the door “Oh, by the way, you got my text about coming over right?”

  
"Yeah, awesome that Tony Stark is letting you have a party. Dude, you could end up being the most popular kid in school, throwing some epic parties," Ned seemed excited for Peter.

  
“It’s not a party. I’m inviting you and MJ over because you’re my friends and you should get used to not coming over to May’s.” He sat down on his desk, still visibly uncomfortable “Besides, I don’t want to be popular. I’ve got you.”

  
"Oh... Well... Um..." Ned wasn't sure how to tell Peter this but he had invited a ton of people. He decided to not tell Peter to savor the moment. "That's really sweet man."

  
“Um?” He raised an eyebrow, looking at Ned accusingly “What have you done, Ned? You never say Um unless you’re hiding something or lying.”

  
"I may have invited like... A few more people... By a few, I mean a lot." Ned said nervously.

  
“How much is... a lot?” He asked, clearly alarmed since this hadn’t been the plan at all.

  
"Like... Half the school..." Ned mumbled hoping Peter wasn't too mad.

  
“What!? Ned!” He screeched, backing down once he saw other people’s eyes on him “Why would you do that!?”

  
"I dunno, I got excited," Ned huffed feeling bad about putting Peter in this position.

  
“Ned,” he whined “Mr. Stark was expecting two people at best- and that isn’t even my hou-“ he flinched, technically soon it would be his. “Regardless- I feel bad for imposing half of midtown on him.”

  
"He has had some crazy parties before, I'm sure its nothing he's not used to," Ned shrugged.

  
“It still doesn’t feel right to impose like that.” He sighed, taking out his phone to warn tony about it.

 

  
_Peter Parker_

  
_Hey Tony, Ned accidentally invited a lot of people- is that okay? :(_

 

  
_Tony Stark_

  
_Sure, have some fun_

 

“Huh.” He tilted his head “Guess that means it’s okay to invite all of those people.

  
Ned did a little fist pump as he was excited. Class was getting ready to start from the 2-minute warning bell that rung.

  
Peter rolled his eyes, deeply aware of how excited Ned was about it. And while it was cute of him to be so excited, Peter felt more or less dread. He wasn't very good with parties per se.

  
The school way went by just as it had come. Tony was having Pepper make some preparations and invite a few adult friends as well so he wasn't completely drowned in teenagers.

  
Peter had told Ned (and a very reluctant MJ) that they could "swing" (get it?) by at around 7 pm. Surely, he knew Ned would spread the news like wildfire, and he made his way back to the tower. He didn't really want to bother Happy with driving him there, and he needed to stretch his legs even just a little bit now that he couldn't be Spider-Man. Once he arrived at their floor, he started walking towards his room, calling out Tony's name to see if he was home.

  
Tony walked to the boy once he heard him shout for him.

  
"How was school? Crazy?" He asked knowing Peter must have been bombarded by students.

  
"Sort of." he shrugged "I got a bunch of letters addressed to you and I couldn't really do anything without having like a hundred eyes on me but it wasn't that bad." he turned to look at him, seemingly fine "I expected to not even be able to breathe but it was fine?"

  
"Now imagine if people also knew you were Spider-Man," Tony mumbled. It would definitely be hectic.

  
Peter frowned "Yeah, that's why no one can know about that." he sighed, he could only begin to imagine how much stress it would bring into his life.

  
"Excited for tonight? Parties are always good for a reputation," Tony tried to have not awkward small talk but the fact they were matches made it weird.

  
"I'm kind of nervous if I'm honest...I'm not really the type to go to parties." unless Ned decided to drag him and May encouraged it. "But I guess it should be fun?" he shrugged "I usually just leave parties pretty early but this time I can't really do that."

  
"You'll love it because it's your party, and that means you can kick out anyone who pisses you off," he tried to assure him that he'd have fun.

He hummed at that, seeming to be in some form of thought. He usually just left parties because he was a loser and Flash would ridicule him... but now... “Well, that sounds pretty good.”

  
"Buuuut, alcohol is reserved for the adults, so I better not catch you drinking. I trust you to be responsible," Tony said since he would certainly be having some drinks out in order to handle a bunch of teens.

  
Peter put his hands up in surrender, taking a small step back “I don’t even like alcohol.” He laughed “Sort of hard to get even a buzz when you have my abilities.” He paused “I’ll behave, I promise.”

  
"Okay... And trust me, I've got shit in there that would get even you wasted," Tony chuckled. He hummed after a moment glancing at his phone. He had invited the other avengers without telling Peter, as a little surprise, and since Tony hadn't had much time since the match to speak with them.

  
"Then maybe it's better I can't legally drink. Uncle Ben used to tell me how awful hangovers could be." it hadn't been a lot. but his uncle had many friends, and sometimes, upon May's suggestion, had little outgoings with his friends, and would later regret them as Peter brought him tea while May fixed him some soup to remedy his hangover, and would exaggerate his symptoms to scare Peter away from drinking.

  
At the name, Tony paused for just a moment as he heard Peter mention his dead uncle. "Yeah, hangovers are something... Anyway... Go get yourself ready, we have some early arrivals coming."

  
Peter had a relaxed, sort of goofy smile as his mind drifted to a (clearly) happier time in his life. He's grown from bursting into tears at the mention of his uncle, and now just lives in content with the memory of him. When Tony spoke again, he jumped, startled out of his thoughts, before coughing into his hand "Oh uh- yeah, I'll just-" he pointed towards the hall where his room was, before walking away.

  
Tony smirked before going to greet some of the avengers.

  
Pepper had everything set up early, there was tons of food and drinks and music ready to be played when it started.

  
Peter had hesitated when he was changing, unsure of what to wear at first, but after a couple of snapchats between Ned, MJ and himself, he chose an outfit that was "party-worthy" but still not something that would make him uncomfortable. Though the very tight dark skinny jeans would've made him feel odd...if he wasn't so used to going around in tight spandex. And now, he sat atop his bed, waiting for his friends to get there.

  
Nat and cap had arrived first, they hadn't preferred to go to a party but considering they hadn't spoken to either Tony or Peter since their match, they showed up. MJ and Ned were lead straight to Peter's room once they showed up. Ned seemed utterly star struck just being there in the same building as the greatest hero's ever.

  
"Peter is this your room?!" Ned said looking around.

  
Peter was sitting on his rather large bed, before plopping onto his back “Yeah, we’re really far from Queens huh?” He heard MJ snicker, and it brought a smile to his face. He hadn’t gone outside of his room since he arrived, so he had no idea that some of the avengers had arrived. He was nervous really, never having hosted a party before this.

  
"I am so excited! I guess while we wait for others can you please take me to meet some of the Avengers?" Ned asked clueing Peter into the fact that there was other company.

  
“The avengers are here?” He asked, he’d only ever seen them in combat before, and very few times as well, so he was a little taken aback. But then again, it made sense for Tony to invite them.

  
“Yeah, yeah, big surprise, let’s go see them before Ned pisses himself from excitement,” MJ said, pushing a curly lock of hair behind her ear and pushing the two of them forward and out of the room, her tone made it seem like she was indifferent, but Peter knew better than to assume she wasn’t excited.

  
Tony sat on the couch across from the other two avengers speaking carefully as the topic happened to be about Peter. Both the avengers knew Tony was a player, and Peter was young, so they needed to make sure the boy wasn't going to get hurt by Tony.

  
Eventually, the three friends managed to arrive at the living room where the world’s mightiest heroes were. And Peter couldn’t help but snicker along to MJ’s snort of amusement when Ned freaked out over Captain America sitting there in normal clothes and a can of Coke in his hand. Peter, on the other hand, felt a little weird being around all of them while out of the suit, never having formally talked to any of them outside of combat. “Um... Hi, I’m Peter-“ stupid, they _know_  that “This is MJ,” he gestured to her, while she only lifted a peace sign and dropped her hand back down as smoothly as possible, seemingly unfazed “And this is Ned, it’s a pleasure to formally meet you.” MJ figured out his identity on her own, but he felt like he should still explain that to the avengers- wait, had he ever told Tony about them knowing? Did the avengers even know Peter Parker was Spider-Man? They should, right? They were the world’s elite, of course they would know.

  
Natasha knew almost immediately that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. She was too observant for her own good but for Steve, it hadn't even crossed his mind that the two were one and the same.  
It was probably irresponsible of Tony not to let them know of Peters' identity but when was he ever the responsible one?

  
Steve giving the kids a bright smile and greeting them was still unsuspecting. "Nice to meet you all as well." He said with his usual charm.

  
Peter felt a slight tingle under his skin, looking in the direction of Natasha who was staring at them. Of course she’d know- but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t anxious under her scrutinizing gaze. “Its a pleasure to meet you, Captain America, sir.” Not like he hadn’t totally taken his shield before, no sir. “A-And everyone else.”

  
Bruce, having already gotten in on the secret because of Tony working on Peter’s suits, only snorted at how uncomfortable the encounter seemed. Of course Peter would tread lightly if he wasn’t sure if the others knew of his identity. Overall though, it was funny to watch.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony realllllllly fucking shit up because he thinks he's to fucked up for love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please rp with me! I love Voltron, Starker, Gravity Falls, Danny Phantom, and She-ra. I like to turn my rp into stories sometimes so if you wanna write with me or even just rp between us dm my Insta fic_fanatic_rp

It was only an hour until kids started to show. Tony kept distance between himself and Peter to avoid having to keep having awkward encounters. He got himself a drink and secluded himself away from all the teenagers.

Unfortunately Flash had shown up which Tony was fully aware of. He wanted to teach the kid a lesson but held back for Peters sake.

Peter would gladly keep dancing around Tony and keeping his distance. But the more people came in, the more he was subjected to questions about his relationship with Tony. He tried his best to brush them off or throw in another topic though, because he didn’t really feel the need to subject himself to a headache that particular night. Yet one thing lead to the other, and the more teenagers that trickled in the more hidden alcoholic beverages that started to make their way into underage hands. Peter had tried to deny them at first, but he was the “special boy” (as a very drunk Ned had put it) and eventually decided to indulge in it. It helped fade the stress away, and helped him relax, an easy-going smile on his face as the alcohol soon made his way into his blood stream and started affecting his rational thoughts.

After a bunch of shots and way too many bottles of alcohol that probably should’ve been lethal to a regular human, Peter was stumbling around, laughing with people he didn’t even know, as well as dancing with them. And it was then during a very drunken stumble that he came across face to face with Flash. His mind vaguely supplied a low warning, but he was a little too far gone to head it. With a huge smile on his face, he leaned closer to the other, throwing his hands up and the drink he had in his hand slushing around “Flash!! My man!! You made it! How’s it going?"

"Didn't think the likes of you would be capable of this, Parker, nor did I think you'd have the guts to drink," Flash said clearly drunk as well. His eyes were lidded as he looked over Peter slowly noticing things his sober mind would deny.deny.

“Wha?” He blinked, the dopey smile still on his face “There’s a lotta stuff you could mean by that...” he muttered off, before shrugging, his drunk mind not capable of forming a coherent thought “I can drink! Drinking’s fun, makes aaaall the bad things go away.” He was so buzzed he couldn’t even remember why he’d been upset at the start of the day “What about you? Enjoying the party?? Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah, I think you did it, best party of the year. But it seemed to me that Stark doesn't have feelings for you, are you holding up?" Flash asked before making his first move by putting an arm around Peters shoulders. He took another drink hoping the topic would make Peter up for doing something.

“Mr.Stark- oh wow that’s weird, I’m gonna be Mr.Stark soon I gotta call him something different-“ he cleared his throat, pouting “Tony doesn’t have feelings for me like that.” He took a large gulp of his drink, not at all fazed by the arm around his shoulders, in fact, he leaned into it, some form of comfort in his drunken state. “Keep a secret?” He can’t use his filter right now, and the giggle that escapes his lips may have just proven it. “He said this was an open relationship. So honestly, I can do whatever I want. Even...” he rested his eyes onto Flash’s figure, smirking from the top of his cup “With you.”

Flash was getting worked up, he guided Peter away from prying eyes, he moved so a hand rested on Peter's hip and the other took the cup of alcohol away from Peter's lips then leaned in to kiss him. There we're so many drunk teens he didn't care to find reliable privacy.

Peter was vaguely aware that he was still in a room where prying eyes could easily watch him kissing Flash Thompson, the same guy who’d bullied him since day one, yet he couldn’t bring himself to care. His arms, even the one that was holding his cup (which ended up dripping down to the floor below) found themselves wrapped around Flash’s neck, bringing him closer as he let himself enjoy this kiss, even if in the back of his mind he knew he’d regret it later.

Flash reached deeper to grope Peters ass and push their body's closer. He bit Peters lip before making the kiss even deeper. He had no shame at the moment.

Tony noticed the party was starting to get out of hand. Teenagers were stumbling into things and he wouldn't care if the media wouldn't twist this into something it wasn't if they figured out. Tony looked around the party continuing to dodge kids with light annoyance looking for Peter.

Peter’s lips parted in a light moan, his hips instinctively bucking upwards, when he gained some form of confidence with his movements, he decided to grind against Flash, clearly trying to provoke some form of reaction in the other. Maybe it would work if Peter knew a thing about what he was doing, but as it stands he’s a poor measly virgin trying to seduce someone that’s probably already gotten laid before.

Despite peters inexperienced moves Flash seemed turned on by it. He got more rough with kissing and full on made out with the other.

Tony finally getting close looks straight at the pair with shock at first. Then it morphed into hurt and finally anger. He quickly pulled Flash off Peter.

A grin made its way into Peter’s features; clearly enjoying how rough Flash was being with him. He let himself get lost in the moment, the touches, and just before he could begin to feel good by foreign touches and forget why he’d even decided to start drinking so hard- the very reason for his drunken state shoved his current fling off of him. With a yelp, Peter stumbled backwards without Flash’s body’s support. With glazed eyes, he glanced up at Tony, and hiccuped a little bit “Huh- wha- Tony? What are you doing here?"

"My house kid, remember?" He answered Peter clearly pissed as he dragged Flash to the door. He was done.

"Everyone out! I'll send my suits after anyone who's still here within 30 seconds!" Tony shouted throwing the teen out and holding the door to get them out faster. He was so incredibly infuriated. He could honestly kill a man at the moment.

“What?! Hey!” He shook his head, smacking his cheeks a few times to try and get the effects of alcohol out of his system but to no avail. “I know it’s your house but-“ whatever sentence he’d been trying to formulate about this being his house now as well quickly died in his throat, an undignified squeak leaving him as he tried to stop Tony. “What are you doing?! This party was your idea! Why are you kicking them out and-and threatening them!” He didn’t understand, Tony had seen him kiss Flash, yeah of course, but he’d been so against marrying Peter and had firmly stated that he held no romantic feelings for him and even _flirted_ in front of him with another woman that Peter had thought it’d be fine! At least _he_ has the decency to do it somewhere Tony wouldn’t of easily seen him. “What’s gotten into you!?"

"Kid, go to your room now... _Please._ " Tony ordered as if Peter was a child. There was so many things that were going wrong at the moment. Peter wasn't supposed to get drunk for one, and kissing someone else was another, but to top it off it had been that Flash bully Tony wanted to beat the hell out of.

“What?” His hands curled into fists, clearly upset as he stared Tony down in pure anger “You can’t just boss me around like that!” He couldn’t help but look out in pure dismay as teenagers practically ran out of the room, shoving each other to ‘escape’ least they see the wrath of Ironman.

"I can and just did," Tony said grabbing Peter's wrist tightly and pulling towards the younger ones room. He knew Peter could over power his attempts but he hoped he knew better than to try and fight back at the moment.

Peter obviously could overpower the other, but with people still running around and how much this situation could get way worse than it already was. Reluctantly, he let Tony pull him towards his room “Why are you doing this? An hour ago you wouldn’t of even cared!"

"Of course I would have cared, that Flash kid.... What were you even thinking?!" Tony tried to come up with a valid excuse that wasn't that he was possessive and might have feelings for Peter.

"And you were drinking, I thought I told you to be responsible?"

“The wedding planner! What were you thinking?!” He mocked back, his arms crossing over his chest as he glared at the other “So What?! You told me I could do whatever I wanted because you didn’t want me! And suddenly you’re acting like you actually care about my feelings?” He sneered “Right right, because an alcoholic is telling me I should know better not to drink. It wasn’t even the stuff you laid out! People were bringing them in and sneaking it into my cups and it helped make me feel better and just-“ he took a deep breath in “You’re confusing. You act like you would rather watch me jump off a building and not catch myself on my webs than to be married with me and then the next minute you’re upset because I’m kissing a guy??"

"Trust me Peter, you don't want a man like me, but I will not sit there and watch you make out with a bully and to do it while you're drunk." Tony continued to scold almost ready to snap at Peter.

“A man like- you don’t even give me a chance to know if I want a man like you or not! All you do is shove me away and-and confuse me!” He feels a bit of an itch under his skin, one that screams to run away or secure himself high enough where Tony won’t reach him (ridiculous, Tony’s literally Ironman, he can and will) “Flash might be a bully but he was so nice and good to me and maybe I’m so drunk I’m seeing two of you right now but dammit if he didn’t do things that I thought my match would’ve at least wanted with me!"

Tony's brows knit together as he didn't know how to address this in a healthy manner so he did as he always did. He'd Fuck it up.

"You wanna see what kind of man I am?" Tony's voice was dark and eyes full of anger.

Within seconds after calling for it, an iron glove found itself attaching to Tony's hand. He gripped Peters wrists together with the metal which helped keep Peter in place despite the teens ability.

“What are you-“ his spidey sense went haywire, but in his drunken state he couldn’t make out where it was coming from, so he found himself like a confused child looking all over himself before he felt the hard metal clutching his wrists. With a yelp of surprise, he stared at Tony in absolute shock “Did you just- did you just use your glove against me?” He could break free, or at least attempt to, but he was more shocked that Tony would go to these sort of lengths “What is wrong with you?!"

Tony didn't reply. He reached forward with his free hand and tore the shirt right off of Peters body. It was thrown to the ground. He pulled Peter to the bed in the teens room and threw him on it. The door shut behind them.

"I'm just showing you what kind of man I am Peter, you wanted to know right?" Tony asked climbing onto the bed and over Peter.

Swallowing down the lump that started forming in his throat, Peter scooted back, before Tony got on top of him, and his mind raced with thoughts and his spidey sense went wild. He’d never even had his spidey sense go off near Tony before, and the fact that it was going off now made him shiver. “N-No! You’re not like this- you’re just- you’re just pretending so you’ll chase me away!"

"This is what I'm like Peter, get that image of me being some great guy and hero out of your head because I don't do love. I do sex. And your a _child_ ," Tony growled gripping Peters ankle and pulling him down so he was laying flat. Tony bent down and sucked on Peters sensitive skin below the collar bone. A dark hickey started to form as he shoved a leg between Peter's thighs.

Peter’s breath hitched, and he felt _so_ defenceless and weak against the other, superpowers aside, Peter has never been in a situation like this before. Flash was the first person to ever kiss him aside from a girl in kindergarten, and he’s certainly never had someone on top of him sucking a hickey into his collarbone “B-But you- I-“ he hiccuped, fresh tears coming into his eyes, all of his fantasies crumbling around him, but he wouldn’t let himself cry openly in front of Tony anymore, so mustering up his real strength, he shoved Tony off of him, before trying to cover his chest as he ran out of the bedroom, panting and flushed all over as his vision swam.

Tony bit his lip as he recovered. He hated doing that. He didn't want to do it but damn it, the kid thought to highly of him. No. He was a player and he didn't do romance. But he just couldn't take watching Peter make out with another man.

"I need another drink," he mumbled with a self-loathing attitude.

Peter stumbled around for a while, he had to pause a couple of times to keep himself in check and try hard to not let himself vomit his inside onto the floor, before he stumbled upon an unused closet of sorts, opening the door and locking it from the inside as he was immediately greeted by the tightly small place. Ever since the vulture incident, Peter has found tiny spaces uncomfortable yet at the same time oddly comforting. Adjusting his webshooters that never left his wrists, he shot a couple of it into the wall, before sticking himself to it and almost instantly feeling better. He vaguely thinks it must be a spider thing, but he can’t quite bring himself to formulate anything in his mind right now as all he can do is curl up and cry his heart out.

Tony didn't go after Peter. If he truly cared about the boy then he needed to keep space. He went to work on his suits to get his mind off what he had done. Pepper would kill him for sure if she found out.

 


End file.
